Am I able to get into colleges like USC or Irvine if I have a low GPA, but I have a ton of extracurricular activities, have a really good reason why my GPA is low, and have a ton of leadership activities?
Do you meet the minimum requirements?
Nobody can give you a definitive answer. The only way to find out is to apply and see what happens. But in general academics are the single most important part of an applications and strong ECs don’t make up for a lower GPA.
Probably not. “a really good reason,” in particular, sounds extremely unlikely.
What is a low GPA and what are your test scores? Post UW GPA and UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
UC’s are very GPA focused but if you have a compelling reason for your lower than average grades, this can be addressed in your essays. USC likes both, high test GPA and test scores, but can be more holistic in their application review if you have outstanding LOR’s and your essays.